Parisitic Grudge
by SqutternutBosh
Summary: The Doctor and Donna find themselves on the planet of Skraark, where they are both immediately arrested for a past crime of the Doctor's. After an unusual encounter with the Queen, they find themselves trapped but still fighting to save the planet. DONE.
1. Chasing Postcodes

Donna Noble had travelled to many places with the Doctor, across galaxies to far-away planets and stars and even through time

A/N: Okay, this is my first shot at a Doctor Who fic, so bare with me as I get comfortable with writing the characters!

**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who is the property of the BBC, and I am not the BBC.

……

Donna Noble had travelled to many places with the Doctor, across galaxies to far-away planets and stars and even through time. She was beginning to expect the unexpected. However, when she had opened the TARDIS doors that morning and found herself stepping out into wet Cardiff in the year 2008, she found herself more surprised than if the Doctor had taken her to some planet called Klog where it actually _did _rain cats and dogs. Cardiff was hardly very exciting or exotic… The Doctor had explained that every now and again he needed to take the TARDIS to refuel- or something, Donna hadn't been paying that much attention- in Cardiff because of some time rift… Donna had got the general idea of what he was saying, even if she hadn't been listening properly.

So, the pair had spent the day wandering around Cardiff bay, leaving the TARDIS to do whatever it was supposed to do for a few hours. The rain had eased off and although a dark cloud still remained hovering in the grey skies, it had been quite warm and pleasant and Donna was happy that, for once, the Doctor had landed the TARDIS somewhere where there had been no trouble.

Having spent the day strolling peacefully alongside the murky waters instead of running for her life, Donna was in quite a reflective mood; something which didn't happen often. Or rather, it hadn't happened often before she had met the Doctor. She had tuned out the Doctor's excited babble about the banana flavoured ice-cream he had just had as they walked back to the TARDIS.

'…And there were actual chunks of banana in it!' the Doctor was saying, as he rummaged for the TARDIS key in his many coat pockets. '_Real _banana- in an ice-cream! Never mind the fact that the potassium and energy stores in it are good for you- and by you, I mean humans- it tastes _fantastic!_' He found the key and inserted it into the lock, opening the blue door with a neat click. Donna stepped in without a word, causing the Doctor to frown slightly.

'Are you alright, Donna?' he asked carefully, following her in and closing the door. Donna was stood by the console, looking up at the ceiling. 'Donna?'

'What? Yeah, I'm fine. I just… It's been a while since I spent a day not worrying about some alien conspiracy,' she said vaguely, looking back down at the Doctor.

He smiled slightly. 'I guess it has been…'

'But that's about to change?'

The Doctor was grinning properly now. 'Oh yes! Or, as soon as I figure out where we're going.' He bound up the grating to the console, his trainer-clad feet creating a metallic clang. 'All sorts of places to go… Anywhere in the Universe, anywhere at all, any time at all. Decisions, decisions,' he flicked some switches and a few lights flickered on the panel. 'There's always somewhere medieval- or the Dark Ages! Haven't been there in a while, not after that whole incident at the Battle of Hastings… Or, I know-,'

'Do you ever get tired of people walking in here and going "Oh my god! It's bigger on the inside!"' Donna interrupted him. He stopped what he was doing.

'What?'

'I dunno, I was just wondering. I thought I was getting used to it, but really it's so weird…'

The Doctor straightened up. 'Dimensional physics being what it is Donna, I think it'd be weirder if we stepped in here and it was _smaller_ than it is on the outside. Wouldn't that be a little bit more worrying?'

'If I knew anything about dimensional physics it might be,' she replied. 'Where to then, Spaceman?'

'Hmmm, right, I've just decided that it might be a good idea if we go to-,' but he didn't get to finish his sentence because, suddenly, the TARDIS was on the move, making the decision for them. Both the Doctor and Donna were thrown painfully onto the grating as the TARDIS engines whirred into sudden action.

'What the bloody hell was that for?' Donna demanded from her awkward position on the floor, all traces of her reflective mood gone. 'Are you trying to give me a concussion?'

'I didn't do it!' the Doctor told her, indignantly. 'It was the TARDIS, she just went without me doing anything!' He jumped to his feet and grabbed onto the console as this TARDIS shook him about furiously. Donna repeatedly tried to get onto her own feet, but found herself unable to as she was tossed about like a single bean in a can. She managed to poke her fingers through the metal grating and was gripping it tightly, the metal digging into her flesh. She let out a frustrated sound, something between a snarl and a shout.

'Doctor!' she cried dangerously.

'I'm trying, I'm trying,' he shouted back, whacking the console with his emergency hammer in his right hand, gripping tightly to a lever with his left. Then, suddenly, the TARDIS came to a stop. All the engines shut down and everything was still.

Donna was finally able to stand up and she did so, blowing her red hair out of her face angrily. 'So?' she asked. 'What happened this time?'

The Doctor was looking at the monitor, black-framed glasses perched on his nose, concentrating on the strange white swirls that flowed around the screen. 'Ah,' he said finally. 'That's what it was.'

'_What?'_ Donna asked again, her patience fading. The Doctor tucked his glasses safely back into his pocket and looked at his companion.

'There was a bit of a problem, back at the other end in Cardiff,' he started. 'From what I can tell, there was a sudden blast of energy through the time rift- nothing to worry about, it happens sometimes- but the TARDIS sort of… rode the energy to avoid us exploding into smithereens. She was still connected, see, so it was her only option. Really quite clever, I wonder where we've ended up…'

Donna sighed, once again she had followed what the Doctor had said, just about understanding what had happened, but not why. He laughed suddenly.

'What's so funny? Or is it just some weird alien reaction to be tossed about inside a wooden box?' she snapped.

'My TARDIS is not a wooden box, thank you very much,' the Doctor told her, looking hurt and the green centre of the machine pulsed. 'It's just funny, the TARDIS didn't know where to go, and she grabbed the only co-ordinates she could get.'

'And?'

'Well, the only thing she could pick up on that was anything like a familiar co-ordinate was the local post code for that area of Cardiff.'

Donna looked at him blankly. Why was that funny? _Aliens_… she thought.

'Well, I thought it was funny,' he said.

'Ha,' Donna replied dryly. She really wasn't amused; her fingers were red and sore from clinging to the metal grating and she could feel bruises upon bruises swelling up all over her body.

'Anyway,' the Doctor said, clapping his hands together excitedly. 'Shall we go outside and take a gander?'

'Where are we?'

'No idea,' he said happily, heading for the door, which he held open with a hand. A thick beam of golden sunlight fell though the open door. 'After you.'

'Oh no, I'm not going out first, not again. I learnt my lesson from that planet with no gravity.'

'Oh yeah, Quogmare Point A- the planet itself is so small that it is attracted to the gravity of its three moons which keep it suspended in place. The Quogmarans have adapted to life without gravity though, it's really quite a good job the planet is so highly magnetized because-,'

His rambles were cut off by Donna clearing her throat.

'Right, I'll go first then,' he said, getting her non-verbal message to get a move on. He took a step out and was immediately hit by the stifling heat. As a Time Lord, he felt that the air was hot and slightly sticky, but it didn't affect him very much.

Looking around, he could see that the TARDIS had landed in a quiet alleyway, amongst some stout buildings that appeared to be made out of sand. The sunlight from the two suns in the pale yellow sky surrounded the area so much that all of the shadows made by the Doctor and the buildings looked faded and out of proportion. However, there was gravity and the atmosphere seemed perfectly safe for a human.

'You can come out Donna, it's fine,' he called back through the TARDIS door, mentally scanning through a list of probabilities of exactly which planet they had landed on.

'Wow,' Donna said as she emerged from the TARDIS, using her right hand to shield her eyes. 'I'm really going to need my sunglasses here.'

'I think you'll do just fine without them,' a deep, rumbling voice came from behind the TARDIS. 'Where you're going anyway.'

The Doctor and Donna were barely able to turn and find the source of the voice before they found their arms twisted roughly behind their backs and some strange hand cuffs being placed around their wrists. The speaker stepped out from his hiding place behind the TARDIS.

'Now I know where we are!' the Doctor exclaimed jubilantly. 'And it's not good…' he frowned, his excitement gone.

'No,' the speaker said. 'It's not.'

……

A/N: Okay, so that was an introductory chapter- probably the first of about six chapters following a typical sort of Doctor Who storyline. I'd love to hear people's thoughts!


	2. Heinous Crimes

Donna was finally able to get a good look at the speaker

**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who is the property of the BBC, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.

…….

Donna was finally able to get a good look at the speaker. He- Donna assumed that it was a he- looked like some sort of mutated human. He had dark skin, small dark eyes and a slightly overweight body, with two, stout legs and two overlong arms that ended in a hand with three long fingers with multiple joints and a short, curved thumb. The thing Donna found most distracting though, was the large, pale third eye sprouting from a tan coloured stalk that appeared to grow out of the creature's forehead. This large eye focused upwards, flicking between the two suns and blinking rapidly. Donna realized she was staring at this third eye and stopped, instead looking at the alien's face.

'You are the Doctor?' it said in its gravely voice.

'Well, yeah and you're…' the Doctor scanned the alien up and down with his deep, brown eyes. He breathed in through his nose. 'My best guess is that you're a Skraarkan. Am I right?'

The alien scowled. 'Yes, you are correct.'

'Why are you arresting us?' Donna asked the Skraarkan, her arms still being held behind her back by another of the aliens, although this one had long, black hair. 'Why is he arresting us?' she turned to the Doctor to ask. 'Actually, is this even an arrest? I can never-,'

'It is an arrest, Donna,' the Doctor told her. He could feel the fluorescent pink laser beam of the alien handcuff burning the skin of his wrist. 'Although, I'm not sure why. Hang on, how do you know who I am?'

The Skraarkan snorted. 'I think you know that, Doctor. This is not, after all, the first time that you have been to our planet.'

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed for a few seconds. Then, he came to a sudden realisation and went to slap himself on the head for being so stupid, before remembering his hands were cuffed behind his back.

'You're still mad about that?!' he asked incredulously, his eyes wide. 'That was years ago! I didn't do it on purpose you know, I would've thought your Queen would've understood anyway, she knows who I am. I helped her out of a tight spot actually and-,'

'What you did was an intolerable offence, punishable by law!' the Skraarkan fumed, his third eye blinking even faster. 'Our Queen was deeply offended by what you did and so you must pay.'

'But-I- You could at least let her go,' the Doctor gestured his head in Donna's direction, unable to point. 'I was alone last time, it's not-,'

'You were not alone.'

'I- I- Yes, but, this isn't-,'

'SILENCE!' the Skraarkan bellowed and the Doctor did as he was told. 'I am Pliam, Chief of the Guards and I formally arrest you for publicly insulting a member of the Skraarkan royal family and evading punishment for several years.'

With that, the two Skraarkans who had been holding Donna and the Doctor grabbed their shoulders with their bony fingers and began shoving them out of the alley. The alley led out into a wide, bright street full of Skraarkans, all of their third eyes looking skywards and blinking continuously as they watched the two captives being hustled into the back of a perfectly spherical, floating vehicle with their two 'normal' eyes. Donna noticed a black sun logo on the side of the vehicle. Beneath the logo it said 'Guards of Skraarkan, Since 97, 899.'

'Sorry,' the Doctor said weakly to Donna as the silver door slid down, closing them inside the metal vehicle. Donna pursed her lips to avoid saying anything as the vehicle suddenly shot forwards.

The Doctor twisted awkwardly to examine the handcuffs. They were made up of fine, but strong metal chain with two metal boxes at each end. A narrow beam of fluorescent pink light came out of each cube, creating a glowing circle that wrapped around the Doctor's wrist. This beam was quite warm, having cooled slightly from when it was first activated, so now the skin beneath just felt uncomfortably warm, as if that one part of the skin was lying in the sun. If he could have reached his sonic screwdriver, he could have dealt with it, but it was safely tucked away in his inside jacket pocket, where he could not currently access.

Donna hardly felt that the vehicle was moving as it took her and the Doctor away. There was no window anywhere in the sphere (the only source of light was a greenish glow coming from above them), so she was unable to see anything of this strange planet she found herself in. Besides, she wanted answers.

'I guess you should start from the beginning,' she finally said after a few minutes. 'Where are we and what's their problem?'

'Well, Donna Noble, this is the planet of Skraark, the only habitable planet in the entire Twix Galaxy-,'

'Hang on, the _Twix _Galaxy?'

'If you can live in the Milky Way, why can't the Skraarkans live in the Twix Galaxy?'

'Good point.'

'Anyway, I kind of ended up here a couple of years ago- for them anyway- and I helped the Queen out of a tough spot involving some rogue fire breathers, everything was fine and dandy. Ooh, dandy, that brings back memories…,' he shook his head, as if to rid his ears of water. 'I stayed a bit, to watch the Queen in the annual Sun parade; Skraarkans worship their two suns y'see, so when I saw the Queen coming along in her little open top parade buggy, I waved. You know, just a friendly gesture to say "I'm off now, good luck with ruling the planet and all that."

The Doctor paused for a moment as he seemed to contemplate the next part of his story. Donna was possibly even more confused than she had been before he had started.

'As it turns out, waving is an extreme insult on this planet and the second they saw me wave- at the Queen of all people- I was chased by the Guards. Managed to escape to the TARDIS in time, but it seems like they remembered me… I'm actually surprised that they waited for me to come back so that they could arrest me, seems like a long time to hold a grudge.'

'So why are they arresting me for you heinous crimes?'

The Doctor looked up at his companion meekly, his tired eyes looking sad. He didn't say anything.

The spherical vehicle came to a sudden, unexpected stop and the Doctor and Donna both lurched forwards, smacking their heads on the opposite wall. The metal door slid open as they grumbled and righted themselves and Pliam, the Chief of Guards appeared in the entrance.

'Out,' he ordered.

Not questioning the order, the two clambered out of the vehicle, hindered by the fact that they were still unable to use their hands. They were stood inside a building, but three of the four walls were made entirely of glass, so for a few moments Donna had thought herself to be outside. The spherical vehicle trundled away, picking up speed as it went through a huge automatic door on the far side of the room. There were a few members of the Guard, recognisable by their grey uniforms, milling around. They watched with disinterest as the Doctor and Donna were led by Pliam and another Guard across the entrance hall and into a corridor. From there, they were led to a cell at the far end. The door was opened and their handcuffs were removed before they were pushed inside and the door swung shut.

There were no windows in the cell.

'Did you see their third eye?' the Doctor asked Donna, as he immediately plunged his hand into his pocket and removed his sonic screwdriver.

'It was kind of hard not to notice,' she retorted, slumping down on the cool metal bench attached to the white-washed wall.

The Doctor ignored her. 'Did you see how it was always flicking between looking at the two suns? Skraarkans are pretty peace-loving, they're constantly worshipping their suns wherever they go. That third eye has to keep blinking to keep moist and prevent the sunlight from blinding it.' He twisted the top of the screwdriver in his hand and the electric blue light came on, along with the familiar buzzing as he ran it along the surface of the wall. He pressed his ear to the wall and frowned, before looking closely at the screwdriver.

'Can't you use that thing to get us out of here?' Donna asked.

'No…' he muttered, distracted. 'Well, I could. Something's not right here though…'

'Other than the fact that we've both been arrested for something you've done?'

'It wasn't just me, they think you're someone else.'

'Who? If they're arresting me because they think I'm Martha then-,'

'No, not Martha.'

'Then, who?'

'Rose.'

Donna snapped her mouth shut. There was silence except for the buzzing of the screwdriver.

'AHA!' the Doctor shouted suddenly. 'Something is _definitely _not right here. According to my calculations- which are brilliant, as always- the year on this planet is 98, 604, which means that I was last here about 725 years ago. And, look! There are no windows in this cell, for a peace loving race who worship the sun, not being able to see it is an incredibly harsh punishment.' The Doctor was pacing the cell, running his hands over his face. '725 years since I was last here… The peace seems to be declining instead of spreading… That is an incredibly long time to wait for me to return, just to arrest me for that one offence… I'd understand being given a caution a maximum of 200 years later…'

'So what's the problem then? Maybe they're just not as forgiving as you thought,' Donna suggested.

The Doctor looked at her thoughtfully. 'They are though. At least, they were. Remember I told you about me helping them out with some rogue fire breathers?' Donna nodded. 'Yeah, well those fire breathers killed over two-hundred Skraakans and burnt down a lot of public property, but the Queen forgave them and sent them on their way without so much as blaming them. But they want to arrest me for waving?'

'But, hang on, we're in a cell, right? Doesn't that mean that they arrest some people?'

'Donna Noble you're a genius! I thought I was getting strange readings from the wall… This prison was only built about 700 years ago, so not long after I was last here.'

'The logo- on the side of their police car thing- it said _Since 97, 899 _on it.'

'Yes, it all fits. Why would the Skraarkans feel the need to have a Guard? It doesn't make sense!'

Just then, the door to the cell swung open and Pliam was framed in the doorway.

'Queen Ruza will see you now,' he said. 'You are expected to apologise.'

'Right, come on Donna,' the Doctor said, marching out of the cell. He stopped just before he reached the door. 'I think I've figured out one of the problems…' he said slowly as Donna came up behind him.

'What?'

'Queen Ruza should have died about three hundred years ago.'

……

A/N: I'm still not sure about the characterisation, so if anyone has any tips, constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for the review and alert.


	3. The Glass Palace

**Disclaimer: **It's like I said in the last chapter, I don't own Doctor Who. But I do own the Skraarkans.

……

After another quick journey in one of the spherical vehicles, the Doctor and Donna found themselves stood in yet another building, although this one was made entirely of glass. Donna had briefly enquired as to why none of the buildings in the town were made of glass if they loved the sun so much and the Doctor had explained that glass was expensive as it was rare to find the materials with which to make it on Skraark.

'Ah, you've brought us right up to the Royal Palace itself,' the Doctor said gleefully, looking around him. The glass was magnifying the light from the two suns and the hall they were in was very stuffy. There was lots of elegant furniture scattered around in different corners, such as brilliantly carved ches lounges and fancy coffee tables and cabinets- all made of glass. Having so many glass objects cut and carved caused many refractions of rainbow light to litter the room, sometimes it was almost blinding.

'It looks nice but I bet it ain't comfortable,' Donna commented as Pliam led them down a hall. She was trying to take it all in; she was walking down the corridors of an alien monarch's palace, in which all of the walls were made of glass. They went up some stairs, two members of the Guard following close behind the Doctor and Donna in case they tried to escape. When walking along an overhead bypass, Donna glanced through the glass and saw a beautiful green garden with cascading waterfalls that crashed down into a pool that she couldn't quite see. The emerald hedges had been cut into spheres unmistakably supposed to be the sun and there were dozens of overflowing flowerbeds filled with exotic flower arrangements, all in shades of red, orange and yellow. The Doctor looked at her sideways and grinned, despite the fact that they were still being carefully monitored under the eyes of alien law enforcement officers. Donna couldn't help but smile back.

Finally, they reached a throne room. The glass walls were twenty metres high, all one sheet of glass moulded perfectly and impossibly. A complicated sort of brass sundial stood at the centre of the room, casting short shadows at odd angles. Through the glass walls, one of the suns was setting, but on through the wall on the other side the second sun was still hanging high in the sky. Donna touched the brass centrepiece of the sundial as they walked past it and the boiling metal scalded her finger. Refraining from swearing in the presence of royalty, she stuck her finger in her mouth, which also helped her keep quiet.

At the back of the room, sat resplendently atop a glass throne, was a Skraarkan female. Her face was lined and her whole body looked aged as she was stooped over herself slightly, fluffy-slippered feet scraping the floor. She wore simple red robes that were too large and draped over the arms of her throne, her own hands lost beneath their blood red folds. Her old, dark eyes followed the procession of the three guards and their prisoners.

They came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, the three Skraarkans gazing up at their Queen. The Doctor stretched his neck and squinted as he strained to properly see the Queen. Donna flinched slightly when she noticed another Skraarkan stood off to the side of the throne, holding what appeared to be a thick, black bazooka over his shoulder.

'Relax, Donna,' the Doctor muttered. 'It's a hologram builder- like a video camera that'll send holographic images out for people to watch. Looks like this is going to be a live news story.'

'Oh great,' Donna mumbled, vainly running a hand through her hair. 'Don't happen to have a hairbrush in those pockets do you?' The Doctor rolled his eyes and stepped forward to address the queen.

'Been spending a bit of money round here, haven't you?' he said. 'Last time I was here there was no need for a throne or a throne room- all of the money was spent on your people.'

The Queen said nothing, but pursed her withered lips.

'What's up, aren't you talking to me?' the Doctor asked. 'I think you know this whole business is silly- silly, silly, silly. Honest mistake and all that, I can't be expected to remember the customs of _every_ planet across _every_ galaxy through _all_ of time.' He looked up at her expectantly, waiting for some sort of response.

'That human woman is not Rose Tyler,' Queen Ruza said eventually.

'You're right, she's not,' the Doctor said. 'This is Donna Noble. Donna, Queen Ruza of Skraark, Queen Ruza, Donna Noble of London, Earth.'

'Ma'am,' Donna said, inclining her head slightly. She was carefully monitoring the Doctor's every move- he was up to something.

'You will talk to the Queen with respect,' Pliam told the Doctor angrily, his third eye spinning wildly. 'Do remember that you are our prisoner.'

'Oh, I do,' the Doctor told him. 'And you want me to apologise for that little incident seven hundred years ago?' He was addressing the Queen again now. 'Surely you're not still angry about that? Skraarkans being a peaceful race and all that.'

The Queen moved her arms, rustling her robes in the silence of the hall. 'Times have changed, Doctor,' she told him. 'This planet was weak and undefended last time you visited; the fact that we needed your help was proof of this.'

'Well, even the most well protected planets need my help sometimes,' he said, scratching behind his ear, scrunching up his face. 'And if you ask me, this planet was better off before it was protected.'

Pliam snorted like an angry bull and grabbed the Doctor's arms, holding him back.

'I'm warning you,' he spat. 'You are not here for idle chat.'

'You'd think I'd heed that warning, but sometimes I'm just too talkative for my own good.'

Donna snorted at his comment. _Too right,_ she thought.

Pliam pushed the Doctor down so that he was on his knees. He dug his knuckles into his shoulders.

'No more chances,' he warned. With his free hand, he brought what appeared to be small stun gun out of his pocket and rested the cold metal against the Doctor's neck, where he could see and feel its threat.

'See what your protection has done,' the Doctor near-shouted. 'Violence! Resentment! You should have died a long time ago, Ruza and your people would have been better off!'

'You will not talk to the Queen of Skraark in this manner!' Pliam snarled in the Doctor's ear. The other guards restrained Donna in case she tried anything and the excited cameraman came in closer to get a better view on all of the action. The Doctor jostled in Pliam's grip as the Queen stood and stepped as regally as an ancient woman could down one step, her robes like a pool of blood at her feet.

'YOU WILL APOLOGISE!' Pliam bellowed.

'I would advice you do as my Chief of Guards says, Doctor,' the Queen advised from her perch.

The Doctor caught Donna's eye and she knew he was never going to do as they wished. Hopefully they would only be escorted back to the cell and nothing more… The noise of the scuffle died done slightly.

'Why don't you take a step down, Ruza, so I can get a good look at you before I think about apologising?' the Doctor suggested, still on his knees. Donna had earlier seen him straining to see the Queen better from where she sat so high up and superior to them.

The Queen scowled. 'Why should I do such a thing?'

'On, no reason really, it's just so hard to see you all the way up there… I can't be sure if it's really you.' He grimaced slightly as Pliam tightened his heavy grip on his shoulders, pressing the barrel of the gun into his skin. However, he was sure that Pliam wouldn't fire unless ordered to by the Queen- and she seemed too interested in the Doctor for him to be unconscious.

'I told you you had no more chances, Doctor,' Pliam breathed heavily into the Doctor's ear. 'You will apologise.'

The Doctor drew in a deep breath as he feigned thinking about his decision. He ran his tongue over his lips. 'No actually, I don't think I will.'

Pliam let out a ferocious roar at seeing his Queen insulted and his power ignored as he roughly pulled the Doctor to his feet. Queen Ruza was demanding that the Doctor and his companion be removed from her sight and returned to their cell to await further punishment. The guards brusquely began shoving and pulling the Doctor and Donna out of the room, the cameraman walking fast to keep up with them, darting around the commotion to provide different angles for his viewers.

'You better watch your hands, matey!' Donna yelled at the Guard, twisting in his sweaty grip. She threw a furious look at the Doctor. 'You couldn't have just apologised so we could leave? Not even just this once?'

'No, Donna,' the Doctor said darkly. 'Something is definitely not right here and I am going to figure it out.' He shouted the final words, intending for the Queen to hear him.

They had passed the sundial and were almost at the grand arc of glass doorway that served as an entrance to the throne room. The Doctor saw that the Queen, who had taken one step further down in shouting all of her orders, was watching the two prisoners being dragged away.

Digging his bony elbows into Pliam's ribcage, the Doctor managed to free one arm.

'Thanks for the company!' he called back at her and with that, he looked directly down the camera and winked impishly. With a broad grin, he raised his arm- which Pliam was trying desperately to grab- and he waved.

……

A/N: Well, that was a fun chapter to write. Should be a bit more action in the next chapter, depending on how the storyline is panning out. It's all planned though.


	4. Undead Alien Monarch

The Doctor and Donna were none-too-gently returned to their prison cell after a speedy return journey in the spherical Guard car. Donna's bruised body was crying out from all of the rough treatment it had received during the day from the TARDIS's sudden take off to being literally thrown into the cell. She was also aware that she hadn't slept in almost twenty-four hours and was running on adrenaline (and maybe a little extra blood pressure due to her mild annoyance with the Doctor's actions).

The Doctor practically bounced off the cold floor and back onto his converse-clad feet as if he had not felt the impact of several tonnes of hardened cement.

'Buh-bye then!' He called after the rather large Guard who had just chucked them into the white-washed room. He waved frantically as the door slammed in his face and the Guard slammed a chunky fist against it in anger.

'Are you _trying _to wind them up?' Donna snapped irritably, pushing herself into a sitting position on the floor, the palms of her hands fast losing heat to the freezing ground. This was definitely not one of her favourite days. The Doctor, who had been staring at the metal door and the slight dent that had appeared in it due to the Guard's powerful fist, turned to face her.

'Let's face it, Donna, we've-,'

Donna cleared her throat loudly and raised her eyebrows at him.

'Okay, _I've _already wound them up. They already hate me and by association, you and I have a plan- well, half a plan- so we can get out of here and sort out this big ol' problem here. Is it really going to hurt me if I wind them up more?'

'It will if they insist on throwing us round like sacks of potatoes.'

'Which just further proves my point,' the Doctor said, wagging a finger at her, starting to pace the three metre long cell. 'Back when I was here the first time, the Skraarkans wouldn't hug each other for fear of accidentally poking someone in the eye in an act of unintentional violence. Hurting another was one of the worst things a Skraarkan could possibly do- and that should be the rule on all planets, it would definitely make my life easier.' He came to a sudden stop. 'So, Donna, if you're quite ready to return to your feet, let's break out of this joint.' He winked at her and held out his warm hand for her to take. He wiggled his fingers, as if they were itching to go and explore.

With a sigh, Donna reached out and took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. _You have to admire his enthusiasm, _she thought. The Doctor gave her a quick smile, squeezed her hand, before letting go and rummaging in his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. Having found it, he tossed it into the air, where it rotated several times and he caught it with his other hand.

'Such a show-off,' Donna muttered as he strolled calmly to the door and the familiar metallic buzzing filled the room, along with the reassuring blue light of the sonic screwdriver at work. With a satisfying click, the door unlocked and swung a little ajar. The Doctor wrapped his fingers around the edge of the door and pulled it open, standing behind it slightly, leaving Donna with a view of the dark corridor through the empty frame. She felt her heart beat speed up; she was about to escape from an alien prison.

'Aprés toi,' the Doctor grinned, giving Donna the opportunity to venture out first. He loved being able to share all of these experiences with his companions.

Nervously, Donna stepped out into the black corridor and started walking down it. The Doctor followed, closing the cell door behind him, trying to keep as quiet as possible. He was just about to continue after Donna when he turned and almost collided with a rather tall and imposing figure. The green lights flickered on overhead and the Doctor could see that the Skraakan, who was a good few feet taller than the Doctor, already held Donna by the arm; something the red-haired human was definitely not pleased about.

'This is why I don't like to go out of doors first!' Donna hissed at him as the Skraarkan grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him back into the cell, the door having been opened by Pliam who had fast appeared on the scene (of the crime, as it were).

'Give me that weapon!' Pliam demanded, already outstretching a hand to receive the sonic screwdriver.

'What weapon?' the Doctor tried to feign innocence.

'Do not play the fool with me, Doctor,' Pliam told him sternly. 'You and I both know what weapon I am referring to and _I _know that I can see everything you get up to in this cell. You can ignore every other thing I say, but please, do not mistake me for a fool.'

The Doctor's mind was racing with possibilities, none of which were going to help them in their current situation. The sonic screwdriver was his only weapon, but was of no use to him now when he really needed it. He put his hand in his pocket and clutched the ridged cylinder in his hand, calmly pulling it out again as his eyes darted around the cell, looking for an answer that would successfully allow both he and Donna to escape and not get clobbered over the head with the dinner-plate sized hands of the other Skraarkan Guard. But no such ideas came; there simply was no possibility of escape. Keeping his eyes firmly locked on Plaim's, the Doctor handed him his only method of escape. He saw Donna throw him a scared look out of the corner of his eye.

Pliam held the sonic screwdriver in his podgy fist.

'Take you coat off, there's no knowing what else you have in those pockets,' he ordered. The Doctor knew there was nothing useful in his pockets- not that he could remember anyway- and he wordlessly obliged.

'Turn out your trouser pockets.'

The Doctor dug his hands in his pinstriped trousers and pulled out the white lining. To his surprise, a small, orange, rubber duck fell onto the floor. The large Guard approached it suspiciously and picked it up. The duck emitted a wheezy squeak and the Guard flinched as if he thought the bath toy was about to explode. He tossed it back at the Doctor, who caught it and returned it to his pocket. Perhaps it could come in handy…

Donna was given the same treatment, turning out her trouser pockets to reveal nothing but a crumpled five pound note. With the Doctor's coat over his arm and the sonic screwdriver in his hand, Pliam left the cell and the other Guard locked them in once again.

The Doctor sat down on the small, uncomfortable bench and let his head fall back against the cool wall. Donna sat beside him.

'That's that plan out the metaphorical window then,' he said after a few moments silence.

'You've got another one haven't you?' Donna asked. The Doctor said nothing. He was still thinking, ideas whizzing around inside his skull but nothing came to him. He was confident that he would come up with something eventually, the situation wasn't that dire that there was no chance of returning back to the comfort of the TARDIS.

'Oh.' Donna said simply, taking his silence as a no.

'Hey, give me a bit of time,' the Doctor said indignantly, lifting his head so he could appear suitably offended. 'I am a genius y'know.'

'Right,' Donna smirked.

'I am!'

'I know, I just need you to prove it again so I don't end up as some alien's breakfast.'

'Nah, you're alright, Skraakans are vegetarians and they're pretty fussy so they'll only eat what they can grow on their own planet.'

There was a pause as the Doctor's irrelevant fact hung in the air, not helping them at all.

'So, what do you think the problem here is then?' Donna questioned him.

The Doctor ran a hand through his already messy hair and then rubbed his chin.

'Well, this is mostly guesswork at the moment, but I did think it was weird that the Queen's third eye wasn't moving or blinking at all.'

'And that's weird because Skraarkans worship the sun?'

'Exactly and Queen Ruza is- was- famous for being very religious about the sun. When she could, she would stare at it with all three eyes.'

'So, if her third eye isn't moving at all, what does that mean?'

The Doctor let out a long breath. 'I think it means that she's dead.'

Donna was confused. 'But she was right there in front of us, breathing and shouting for us to be punished… You'd think you'd have to be alive to do those things.'

'Ah, but, Donna you should know better than that by now. The universe is always doing millions of new things and I want to see as many as possible. It seems like we've got a new thing right here now and we're some of the first people to notice. Isn't that fantastic?'

Donna didn't even have to think back to her old life as a temp to answer his question.

'Definitely,' she replied. 'Fantastic new things. Although this time round, it seems to be some sort of undead alien monarch.'

'A fantastic new puzzle from the universe to us.'

'Undead alien monarch,' Donna repeated, like she was trying to view the fantastic new puzzle from a different angle.

'Undead alien monarch,' the Doctor copied with glee. The he frowned in thought. 'I'm not sure about the whole undead bit though… Alien and monarch are right enough, but undead? I think she _is _dead and has been for a while but there's something in her keeping that body moving and changing the ways of this planet for its own purposes…'

'Are we going to wait here then?'

The Doctor stood up again, as restless as ever. 'We don't have much of a choice. I need to try and get close to the Queen again so I can get a better look at her. Hopefully the Guard will drag us back to her… And hopefully she hasn't introduced the death penalty, I may have wound them up a bit much…'

'Death penalty?!' Donna shrieked. 'Doctor, I thought you said-,'

But the Doctor didn't hear what Donna thought he had said because, at that moment, her shouts were drowned out by the sounds of an explosion and hundreds of lumps or rocks and shards of glass being blasted into the air and falling with a deadly rushing sound. The Doctor and Donna covered their faces as huge pieces of brick and cement began collapsing and falling rapidly towards them like lethal rain.

……

A/N: I do like a good cliffhanger. And to think there was going to be a little more to this chapter… I guess I'm a bit cruel. Thanks for the reviews, keep your thoughts coming!


	5. Running, Running, Running

**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who is the property of the BBC and will never be mine…

…….

Just as it seemed they were about to be crushed by a particularly brutal looking splinter of rock containing a length of steel reinforcement, a wave of bright blue light extended out and caught the falling debris so that it hovered mere centimetres above the Doctor's hair, the light humming as it caught more and more chunks of the cascading prison wall.

The realisation that they hadn't been horribly crushed to death set in after a few seconds and the Doctor lifted his arms from over his head. He squinted through the humming light and the hovering rocks that were bobbing up and down in the stream of light as if they were floating on surface of the sea following a storm. It was some sort of protective field that had been operated at the last minute, but who was controlling it?

The Doctor cast his gaze round and saw Donna still huddled over, shaking visibly. The field of light could wait a few minutes before being examined, the Doctor decided as he shuffled towards Donna on his hands and knees. He wrapped an arm around her, drawing her closer to him. She flinched and her head whipped up suddenly, but she was reassured when she was met with the sight of the Doctor's deep brown eyes watching her through his shadowy features. Without the walls around them, Donna could see that both suns had set and the area lay in a violet night time. In the distance, the horizon was tinged with flairs of pink and orange as one of the suns was already rising again.

'Are you alright?' the Doctor asked, scanning her up and down with his eyes. 'No cuts, bumps or bruises? All in one piece?'

'I think I'm fine,' she replied, returning his concerned gaze and seeing that he appeared to be unhurt. 'What's that light thing?'

The Doctor tilted his head and looked up at the blue light, his mouth a little open. He reached out a hand and stuck it in, feeling a cool sensation like a rushing breeze. The edges of his hand seemed to blur, his skin looking oddly pale and chalky.

'You can stand up,' a voice told them. It was male and Donna thought she heard it being channelled through the blue light, magnifying the volume slightly. She looked to the Doctor.

'Is it safe?'

He blew air out of his lips, creating a sound like a horse. 'Seems to be.' He stood, so his head and torso were bathed in the cold, blue light. 'Mind your head.' He told Donna as she followed, as there was a rather large chunk of rock rotating above her head. He started to walk towards where the wall had been blown apart, weaving between hovering debris.

'Doctor, can we trust that- that voice?'

'Yes,' he answered confidently. 'Because it seems that they saved us… And also because the only way out is in the direction of the voice and I want to know what's going on.'

Not wanting to be left alone, Donna began winding her way between floating rocks, also having to carefully step over cracks and debris that littered what was left of the floor. In a way, she was glad that they had been on the ground floor, where there was nowhere for them to fall.

'You'll have to be quicker,' the voice said anxiously. 'We don't have enough power to sustain the field for much longer.' Donna hurried herself up, the prospect of being flattened into a Donna sandwich id she was too slow spurring her on.

About thirty seconds later, she reached the edge of the field, where the Doctor was waiting and she could see that the sun had climbed higher in the orange sky. As soon as she had reached safety, the field was deactivated and all of the rocks and other pieces of the prison that it had held crashed to the ground, causing great clouds of murky dust to rise and obscure her view. Coughing, she and the Doctor walked further away from the pile of rubble that had been half of the Skraakan prison.

'This is exactly what I was on about, I didn't think that Skraarkans had even heard of explosives,' the Doctor was mumbling, more to himself than anybody else.

Out of the semi-darkness, a young Skraarkan approached. Donna guessed, if she was speaking in human terms, that he was around his early twenties with dark stubble and a mat of wild looking black hair flowing past his shoulder blades. He wore ripped black trousers and a stained t-shirt, giving him the look of a runaway or criminal. Or both.

'Doctor,' he said with respect, nodding his head at the Doctor. 'Miss Donna Noble.' He nodded his head at her too, treating her with the same respect. Donna held back a comment about once again being immediately recognised as being single, as now was not the time. Donna noted that the voice that had spoken to them through the light belonged to this Skraakan.

'Right, yes. And I'm guessing you set off that explosion and the light field?' the Doctor leapt straight in with his questions. The Skraarkan nodded, evidently pleased with his achievement.

'Not just me, Knet's gone to hide the light field controller somewhere. There was a bit of a snag just after we threw the laser grenade where we thought that the light field wasn't going to have enough power, but we fixed it just in time.'

'Evidently. So, who are you?'

'My name is Leb Calimut. The person who helped me with your escape was my brother Knet Calimut and we are the founders of the Skraakan Liberation Group,' he explained proudly, coming closer to the Doctor and Donna.

'Skraarkan Liberation Group…' the Doctor murmured the new information, eyebrows knotting together in a frown.

'Why did you blow up the prison?' Donna questioned.

'To free you, of course,' Leb explained, as if it were obvious. His third eye was spinning wildly with excitement and adrenalin.

'Yes, but why?'

'Because we, the founders of the Skraakan Liberation Group, feel that you can help us in our mission to help get rid of Queen Ruza and help Skraark on the track towards peace once again.'

'Aside from the fact that this planet should have no real need for a liberation group of any kind, how do you know about us? How do you know that we could help you?' the Doctor asked.

'We were watching you on the Holovid,' Leb said. 'When you were supposed to be apologising to the Queen… And you saw that something was wrong, I could tell.'

'Something's been going wrong for years,' a deep voice added, as a taller Skraarkan joined them. He too, was dressed scruffily, but he held an air that commanded respect. He offered a hand for the Doctor to shake. 'Knet Calimut.'

'Good to meet you, I'm the Doctor,' the Doctor shook Knet's hand. 'Before I agree to help you I have to know… What kind of problems have there been exactly?'

'All sorts,' Leb started; he was clearly the more talkative of the pair. 'Taxes went up on everything and the Queen spent the money expanding the Palace and built that prison there. She tried to start trade with warring planets, trying to sell them weapons that were being built in new factories. She created the Guard and all sorts of new rules were imposed- like right now is actually a curfew period. And then there's the fact that the Queen is a bit past her sell-by date…'

'I'd noticed that one,' the Doctor agreed. The sun was even higher in the sky now, the other sun also starting to reappear on the opposite horizon. He watched Knet and Leb's third eyes take immediate notice of the suns new position as they blinked and swerved between looking at the two. 'What do you think, Donna?' He already knew her answer.

'I think they need our help,' Donna said, without a trace of uncertainty. 'So, we should help them.'

'I wouldn't have expected any other answer from you,' he grinned, then his face turned serious once again, his eyes seeming to darken. 'Alright, we'll help you. We were going to sort out the problem anyway but since you blew up a prison to free us we may be a little indebted to you. So, sure, we'll just team up and it'll all be sorted in, oh… About twelve hours? Give or take half an hour, mind you.'

Leb looked a bit bewildered at the Doctor's confidence, but Knet's dark features broadened into a satisfied smirk.

'Thank you, Doctor,' he said.

'No problem, anytime,' the Doctor said, a little distracted as he patted his pockets down.

'You're missing something important aren't you?' Donna said.

'My sonic screwdriver is a tad important, yes… And it's a bit chilly out here without my coat,' the Doctor looked up at Knet and Leb. 'Better make that more like thirteen hours, I've got something I need to get back.'

'A weapon?' Leb asked, a bit too eagerly for the Doctor's liking.

'Of sorts,' he replied.

'We better get a move on and find Pliam then,' Donna said, already walking back towards what was left of the prison. 'Being careful of that lot over there and all.'

She pointed and the Doctor, Knet and Leb followed the direction her finger was pointing in to see a battered group of the Guard clambering over the rubble in their general direction, probably investigating the source of the explosion.

'Right, I think we'll take it at a brisk jog then,' the Doctor said, already tearing off past Donna. Knet and Leb ran after him leaving Donna stood watching as they disappeared into the distance.

'Always running,' she sighed, beginning her jog to catch up. 'Running, running, running…'

……

A/N: Okay, so this fic is going to be a bit longer than I originally thought. I was planning to have more in this chapter, but I don't want to make it too long so all of the action starts in the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews, it's always good to hear a bit of feedback.


	6. High Speed Pursuit

**Disclaimer: **Do I really need one of these in each chapters? You just like making me admit that Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and not me…

……

Luckily for the Doctor only one, young and newly-recruited Guard had been left to keep watch over the remains of the Guard Station as the others had all gone out to investigate the source of the explosion. The Doctor was able to get his coat back by threatening the Guard with the rubber duck he had earlier found in his trouser pockets, claiming it to be a cleverly-disguised bomb. Not wanting to cause another explosion, the Guard had hastened to return the Doctor's coat, the stalk upon which his third eye sat quivering nervously. Unfortunately, when the Doctor demanded the return of his sonic screwdriver, the Guard stammered in his explanation that Pliam had taken it to show to the Queen, at which the Doctor had sworn in Gallifreyan. At least he had his psychic paper though.

'Where did you get such an oddly-disguised bomb, Doctor?' Leb asked as they jogged away, the Doctor stuffing the rubber duck in his pocket once again.

'Are you kidding? This is a bath toy,' the Doctor replied, squeezing it so it squeaked wheezily. 'No guns, that's me.'

'And sometimes, no brains either,' Donna remarked.

'Hey!' the Doctor cried indignantly. 'Would you have thought of pretending that a simple rubber duck was an explosive?'

'I wouldn't be carrying a rubber duck around with me in the first place!' Donna called as the Doctor was now leading their group. 'Why the hell have you got it?'

'Haven't the foggiest,' he called back, his voice faint as it carried back towards her.

'Stop!' Knet shouted. 'Over here, quickly, I think they heard us!' He veered off to the right, heading through some deep purple bushes with leaves that furled around like a rolled up cigar.

'Not surprised, the gob on that woman…' the Doctor quipped, batting branches out of his face. Donna scowled and opened her mouth widely, about to make another snarky comment when she felt the Doctor's hand on her arm.

'Not now, Donna,' he whispered. She followed his line of sight, peering through gaps in the branches where a group of Skraarkan Guards were slowly making their way in the direction of the runaways.

'This way,' Knet hissed, slinking further into the bushes, the branches snagging on his already torn clothes. The Doctor nodded his head at Donna, jerking it in the direction that Knet had just gone, encouraging her to follow. Leb was waiting impatiently behind them, shuffling from foot to foot as adrenalin coursed through his blue-blooded veins.

Knet led them out through the bushes and into the open, the twin suns in the sky beating down on them. A few Guard vehicles were parked, hovering above the dusty ochre ground. The shouts of the Guard carried over from the direction they had just come, hanging in the breeze like threatening whispers, reminding them that they weren't safe. Knet spotted one of the Guard vehicles and casually strolled up to it, pulling what appeared to be a crowbar from the inside of his trouser legs.

'Oh, no, no, no…' the Doctor groaned, rubbing his hands tiredly over his face. He turned to Leb, who was stood, panting, behind them. 'Tell me, where did you two get all of these weapons.'

'We-We have… contacts in h-high places,' he wheezed mysteriously, trying to catch his breath, not as used to running for his life as the Doctor was.

'Let me guess, those new weapons factories?'

Leb's face fell as the Doctor was instantly able to see through his attempts to be enigmatic and more like the leader of a freedom-fighting group. He nodded. Donna stood with her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. She watched as Knet easily slid the crowbar into the slight crack where the door met the metal cage of the sphere and pushed his weight down on it like a lever. With a few sparks and the horrible screech of metal being forced to rub against metal, the door slid up.

'Come on!' Knet yelled, gesturing for them with his hands. The voices of the Guard were becoming louder as they picked up on the trail of the escapees; they were uncomfortably close by. Leb's eyes widened as he made a mad dash for the vehicle, diving through the open doorway, the Doctor and Donna hot on his heels.

There were too many crammed inside for the vehicle to take as Knet jumped in behind them all, brining the door down with a crash, leaving them in pitch blackness. He was able to bring the crowbar round and smash it into the thin sheet of metal that divided the back of the vehicle from the driver's area. He squeezed through the jagged gap, ripping clothes and catching his olive skin so that beads of sapphire rolled down his arm, being absorbed by his shirt. Leb also clambered through the hole so that his third eye could see the sun through the windows as the darkness in the back was almost suffocating.

'They're coming up behind us!' Leb shouted, twisting to see the Doctor and Donna in the back. There was a heavy metallic pounding all around them as members of the Guard began beating the vehicle with batons and their fists; three long fingers forced themselves through the gap between the door, trying to slide it up. Knet slammed a button and the door slid silently back down, almost crushing the fingers that quickly withdrew.

'YOU WILL EXIT THE VEHICLE!' a brusque voice bellowed. Donna was able to locate the source of the voice through the increased banging that came with it. 'THIS IS PROPERTY OF THE GUARD, THEREFORE OF QUEEN RUZA! THIS IS THEFT OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!'

The banging stopped. Donna sub-consciously leaned in closer to the Doctor, who was gritting his teeth. A salty pearl of sweat wound its way down the side of Knet's head, dripping down his neck and mingling with the blood on his shoulder. Leb was fidgeting, unable to keep still as he could see the Skraarkan Guards through the tinted windows of the sphere. The Guard were stood still, staring through the windows, they're disability to see through the tinted glass panes a source of great annoyance. Knet ran his tongue over his lips and gripped the U-shaped steering wheel tighter, knuckles showing up through his skin.

'It's your choice, Knet,' the Doctor said quietly. Donna's breathing hitched halfway through a deep intake of clammy oxygen. It was so perfectly Doctor-ish to give an invalid the choice- the _important _choice.

Suddenly, the sphere started to rock. Donna and the Doctor slid into each other, crashing from side to side as the Guard pushed and pulled the vehicle from the outside like a bruising cradle. Donna felt faint with exhaustion and thirst, one of the Doctor's bony elbows catching her in her already black-and-blue ribs.

The sphere shot forward, as did the Doctor and Donna as they once again smashed head first into the wall. Behind them, the Guard fell comically into piles on top of one another. However, it wasn't long until they had untangled themselves and charged over to the other Guard vehicles. With a few seconds head start, Knet had blasted off into the air and was arcing back down towards the ground, going full-speed in the direction of the castle. The Guard were furiously trying to cover the distance between them, their faces set in determination. Donna felt like she was trapped inside one of those desk ornaments, where the silver balls swayed back and forth on invisible string, crashing into each other magnetically. The Doctor could be said to be enjoying himself.

Leb was cursing in Skraarkan, the TARDIS not translating his words for Donna to understand. He held tight to the edge of his seat- the Skraarkans having not heard of seatbelts. Knet's face was grim, but determined and focused on the task at hand. A Guard vehicle suddenly shot up in front of them, headed directly for their vehicle, set on a head-on collision. Knet swerved the steering wheel drastically to the right and the sphere shot off rapidly in that direction, eclipsing the sun for a moment. Donna was doing everything she could to stay upright. She faintly caught the Doctor grinning manically at her.

The Guard vehicle that had appeared in front of them mirrored Knet's right turn, but slower. It wasn't too far behind and appeared to be gaining on them, closing the gap. The glass shape of the Palace rose up on the horizon in front of them; Donna wasn't sure if they would make it there before the other vehicle managed to knock them out of the sky.

'Doctor!' she shrieked. 'What're we gonna do? How're we gonna get inside?'

The other Guard vehicle nudged the back of them, a warning sign of sorts. The hot metal screeched as they did it again, this time more forceful. Knet's calm features were falling as his internal panic started to bubble over the top.

'She's right, Doctor!' he bellowed, still rocketing towards the outline of the Palace in the distance. 'We've got the Guard on our tail, it's not like we can just walk in!'

'What're we going to do?!' Leb panicked.

The Doctor fought his way forward, squeezing his head and shoulders through the gap between front and back. He scraped the side of his cheek and a shard of metal, scarlet blood rivuletting down his face. He forced the rest of his torso through, the front of the vehicle barely able to accommodate the extra limbs. Donna was left with the view of a pair of skinny legs and red Converse waving about in her face.

'I'll tell you what we're gonna do,' he said, stretching forwards, ripping the arm of his suit on the broken wall. They were only a few hundred metres away from the Palace now, that distance decreasing as they sped forward every second.

Donna couldn't see his face, but she knew exactly what he was about to do. 'Oh no…' she muttered.

'Oh yes!' he cried jubilantly, as the other Guard vehicle smashed into their side again. The Doctor wobbled in his precarious position.

'Have you passed your driving test on _any _planet?!' Donna screeched, almost in desperation.

'Nope!'

The other Guard vehicle crashed into them again, intent on knocking them back down to the ground. The Doctor tumbled sideways slightly and grabbed the steering wheel for support. He lifted his right hand and powerfully slammed the heel of his palm into a central button on the steering wheel. The spherical vehicle let out the sound of a gunshot as it received a sudden energy boost, rapidly speeding towards the Palace like a speeding silver bullet.

The Doctor let out a jubilant whoop as, with a colossal crashing and shattering, the sphere smashed through the glass walls of the Palaces throne room.

……

A/N: Phew, that was fun! Most action-packed chapter so far, definitely. Thanks for the reviews; particularly VHunter07 for her continued enthusiasm.

And, no spoilers, but The Stolen Earth was an absolutely fantastic episode! Can't wait for the conclusion!


	7. Crashing the Palace

In her mind, Donna knew she was screaming her lungs out and her mouth was performing the desperate wide-mouthed action, but she was unable to hear her shrill cries over the glass caving in, smashing and shattering on the cold stone floor, battering the sphere. She couldn't properly see what was happening, just the Doctor's red Converse standing out in the air inches in front of her face as he grabbed the steering wheel and twisted it drastically almost one hundred and eighty degrees to the right.

Donna's stomach seemed to plunge and then rise rapidly above her head and out of reach as the pod plummeted, eventually coming skidding to the ground. The metal floor dented inwards, flattening out with the force of the collision. Donna drew her feet up, feeling the sphere bounce and crush the glass like gritty icicles. The metal sphere suddenly stopped sliding across the floor as the front hit something. The sphere arced round, stopping on a gentle tilt as it leaned against the thing it had just hit.

Finally, the glass stopped falling, except for the strangely out of place tinkling of the last few shards braking and dropping like crystal rain. Then, silence. Donna's ears were ringing painfully, a repeated whirring as her brain caught up with what had just happened. Oh yeah; the Doctor had just destroyed the Royal Palace throne room and they were trapped inside a metal pod.

'That was a surprisingly neat landing,' the Doctor commented, relenting his grip on the steering wheel. 'You all right back there? Donna?'

Donna blinked a few times, trying to clear her head, the ringing still persistent, but fading. She opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again. Her throat was a little sore from screaming.

'Donna?' the Doctor asked again.

'Yeah… Yeah, I'm alright,' she was almost confused at this fact.

'Good,' came the Doctor's reply from the front, the two vowels dragged out for emphasis. He withdrew his lanky form through the hole he had been balanced in, letting out a long breath as he did so.

'Wow, never done that before,' he said mildly, as if pointing out a vaguely interesting change in the weather.

Knet and Leb had remained silence, their faces stunned and their third eyes twirling so desperately it came as a surprise to Donna that they didn't simply explode out and gain a life of their own. This was their first encounter with the Doctor, their brains needed time to process the situation.

'Well, we're in,' Knet croaked after a few moments, his throat dry. Still looking forwards and out of the tinted window at the scene of desolation he had helped create, he asked: 'Now what?'

'I'm thinking that the pod should be sufficiently battered enough for me-,' the Doctor started, 'to- (he kicked the door, limbs a little tangle in the confined space) do- (he kicked again) this!'

His final awkward kick brought the thoroughly beat-up door to its final position of being unable to take anymore, as it broke off and clanged to the ground.

'See, I do have some muscle on me after all,' he said to Donna with a smile, jumping out. He offered her his hand and she gratefully took it, as he helped her step uncomfortably out of the vehicle. 'Mind the glass.'

Knet and Leb were quick behind them, squeezing through the gap and out of the door frame.

The Doctor rested his hands on Donna's shoulders, looking her up and down, before staring straight into her eyes. His deep, brown eyes reflected his concern and need to check that everything was alright. He drew her into a brief, but heartfelt hug.

'Sorry I had to do that,' he said as he pulled away, his hands still perched on her shoulders. 'Could've gone drastically wrong, but-,'

'You didn't have much of a choice,' Donna interrupted. 'Besides, someone had to do something, those pair were panicking,' she nodded in Knet and Leb's direction. 'And what good was I?'

'You were you,' the Doctor said simply, flashing her a quick grin. He let his arms drop to his sides, content that Donna was safe and- well, not exactly happy, but she was safe.

Donna looked around at the destruction they had created. The sphere had cleared a path through the shards and panes of jagged glass, the whole hall seemed to glitter with lethal diamonds and crystal jewels as the two suns shed light on them, the light sparkling and reflecting the clearing sky above them, misshapen prisms refracting washed-out rainbows of colour. A few Guard vehicles remained in the sky, none seemed keen to come close, probably suspecting the suspects to at least by injured. It certainly was some luck that none of them had been seriously hurt.

Over her shoulder, Donna could see that the pod had been brought to a halt by the giant brass sundial that acted as the centrepiece of the long stretch of hall. The brass had taken the collision well, still standing proud, casting eerie shadows over the devastation around them. She noticed that everything seemed too quiet; no one had rushed to see what had happened.

'Where is everyone?' she questioned quietly.

The Doctor looked vaguely about the trashed room. 'Give it time, Donna,' he said, a tone of warning in his voice. 'Knet, Leb?'

'Doctor?'

'I take it you don't have any further plans as to what to do now that you're _actually _in the Palace?'

'Well… No, we weren't really expecting to end up here,' Leb replied.

'Certainly not so soon,' Knet added.

'Right then,' the Doctor clapped his hands, rubbing them together. 'I want you to go that way, keep an eye out for members of the Guard and try and keep them out of this room.'

The brothers nodded. 'And you, Doctor?'

'I think I'll pay another visit to the Queen… Who has taken cover just behind this sun dial,' the Doctor tried to add to his suave, knowledgeable act by resting a hand on the sun dial and leaning casually, but, as Donna had done, he discovered the brass to be extremely hot. 'Ah!' He quickly stuffed his scalded fingers into his mouth to cool them down, so his next instruction was muffled. 'Obf 'oo go 'en!'

Somehow, Knet and Leb understood his order and they sprinted off, dodging large shards of glass and crushing the smaller shrapnel with their echoing footsteps. The Doctor took his hand out of his mouth.

'Remember, no guns!' he called after them, watching their retreating backs. With a slight frown, he realised that Donna was being unusually silent.

'You really are quite clever, Doctor,' came a familiar voice. He turned to face the Queen, who was holding Donna around the middle, her arms helplessly pinned to her sides, eyes looking sideways at the sonic screwdriver that rested coolly against her temple.

'Ruza,' he said shortly, careful not to let panic flit across his features.

He was finally able to see the Queen closely, to see that her third eye was still and unblinking; a sticky, milky colour. Her olive skin was lined and dry, her complexion paler than those of her Skraarkan people. Her flowing scarlet robes gave the impression that she was swathed in blood, but not the blue blood of the Skraarkans.

Donna struggled, but the frail woman had an unusually strong grip on her.

'Listen, lady, I don't care if you're the bloody Queen of Sheba, no one touches me like this!' she snapped, unsure of whether the sonic screwdriver presented any immediate threat to her livelihood.

'This is a curious weapon, Doctor,' Queen Ruza stated, rolling it on the ends of her fingers, keeping it pressed to Donna's temple.

'And you're a curious creature, having inhabited the body of a dead woman for so long,' the Doctor countered.

Donna had forgotten about that. 'Ugh, I've got a dead woman's hands all over me!'

The Queen laughed. 'You _are _a clever man… or should I say, Time Lord?'

'I'm not fussy.'

'I have waited a long time for you, Doctor, the last of the Time Lords. I have been confined to this body for centuries, awaiting the revenge of my people, all the time building this poor, pathetic planet up for the start of a new empire… I know of your people of old, but Queen Ruza had met you, the lonely survivor of a war that destroyed many ancient homes and peoples.'

'If you have access to Ruza's memories, then you should know that I may or may not help you; the former being more likely if you _get out of that body.'_

'No, no, Doctor. You _will _help me. Because, your Time War destroyed my home planet of Priska, leaving my people to die! And, because I have your weapon and your lover-,'

'Oi, I ain't no spaceman's lover!' Donna interrupted.

'Go on then, do your worst,' the Doctor said calmly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He nonchalantly kicked a piece of glass away from him. The Queen- or whatever was controlling her- was taken aback. She shifted her grip on Donna, who was still wriggling in an attempt to break free.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows expectantly. 'Leader of the Priskeet and you're scared to turn the dial of my sonic screwdriver three clicks to the left and press the big, blue button?'

'Doctor…' Donna said unsurely.

Two eyes still firmly fixed on the Doctor, the Queen did as the Doctor had just let slip, turning the dial. Her curved thumb rested on top of the button, rubbing it gently as she considered her next move.

The seconds ticked by, the Doctor still focused on the Queen, his face set. Donna found her breathing increasing in suspense, not knowing what to expect.

With a soft click, Queen Ruza pressed the button down and held it, the blue light blinding Donna as the electronic buzzing sounded in her ears.

……

A/N: I could have made this a longer chapter, but this seemed like a great place to end, leaving you to wait in suspense for what happens next. Hope you enjoyed it anyway, next chapter should be up in a day or two.


	8. Their Esteemed Leader

The Doctor scratched the back of his head in an almost embarrassed manner as Queen Ruza held down the button, blasting Donna in the face with bright blue light, her eyes clamped shut. As nothing seemed to happen to Donna, Ruza shook the sonic screwdriver in an agitated fashion, as if she suspected it wasn't working properly. Donna kept her eyes closed, not realising that she was subconsciously holding her breath. She wanted to trust that the Doctor would let no harm come to her and in her heart she did, but she couldn't help but feel a small seed of doubt niggling at the back of her mind. The Doctor moved his hand from the back of his head to tugging on his earlobe.

'What is this, Doctor?' Queen Ruza hissed.

'That,' he said pointedly. '_That_ is setting three-nine-four; provides UV protection against harmful sunrays, bit like sun cream. Didn't mean to worry you there, Donna, but you're looking a bit sun burnt, you know, red hair and all that, didn't want you becoming the human tomato.'

'Appreciated,' Donna replied, opening her eyes now that the glare of the light was no longer burning through her eyelids.

Queen Ruza snarled and dropped the sonic screwdriver, letting it clatter to the floor.

'You said it was a weapon!'

'O-oh, I did not. Implied it, that's all. Come on, you didn't expect me to let any harm come to my charming companion now, did you?'

The Queen gritted her teeth together, grinding them irritably.

'Honestly,' the Doctor sighed, swooping down and scooping up his beloved screwdriver. 'If you'd properly accessed the real Queen Ruza's memories, you'd have known this was no weapon.'

'If that is so, then you remain unarmed,' Queen Ruza said, finally releasing Donna, who stumbled forwards. The Doctor helped steady her as the Queen took a few backwards steps, tearing the soles of her ridiculous slippers on the glass. 'And I, Esteemed leader of the Priskeet, am to be held as more inteligent than you suspect.'

''Ow's that then?' Donna asked. 'You look like a little old lady to me.'

'A little old lady who managed to hold you so tight that you could not escape,' the Queen countered with a smirk.

The Doctor, seeing that Donna was about to go off on one, stepped between the pair, handing her the sonic screwdriver.

'Calm down,' he said. 'Give your arms a blast with this; don't want your skin drying out.'

Queen Ruza continued to take careful backwards paces, eyes held firm on the Doctor's.

'Look,' the Doctor started. 'Leader of the Priskeet-,'

'Mos,' the Queen interrupted. 'Empress Mos, is my correct title.'

'Right, Empress Mos,' the Doctor corrected himself. 'I can't stress how sorry I am that your planet was destroyed in the Time War. My people never intended for such things to happen, but they did and there's nothing I can do about it. Except, I can offer you my help, come with me and I can find you a new planet, someplace where you won't have to overthrow a perfectly peaceful race to get what you want.'

'How can I trust the word of a Time Lord?' Empress Mos spat. 'When, without their interference my people would not be hidden on this planet, awaiting a time when they have rule over it.'

She was still walking backwards, heading deliberately in the direction of the throne, the glass steps of which had only suffered minor damage as the panes of glass were so thick and secure.

'I promise you can trust me,' the Doctor said, aware that the Empress had a specific direction and therefore more of a plan than he had. 'Wouldn't it be better for both the Priskeet and the Skraarkans if you came with me?'

The Empresses foot nudged into the back of the bottom step. Her lips thinned and pursed as she thought for a moment, before lifting her robes and stepping up.

'You see, Doctor, this is why I had my newly formed Guard keep an eye out on you, using the excuse of a silly offence as my reason. I knew you'd be trouble.'

'I don't have to be.'

The Empress gestured around at all of the glass that lay cracked on the stone floor. 'I think that you've already shown that you are, indeed, trouble.' She took another step up. 'Two buildings destroyed in less than a quarter sunrise.' Another step up.

The Doctor edged closer. 'Be fair, I didn't destroy both of them.'

The Empress grinned wistfully. 'Yes, alright.' Another step, only five more to the top.

'I did what I had to do to help the Skraarkans. To _help. _And now I'm offering that help to you.'

She said nothing, just shuffled another step higher.

'I'm urging you to think about this Empress, don't make me do something I'll regret.'

'So quick to anger,' the Empress observed. The buzzing of the sonic screwdriver in the background stopped, as Donna watched the scene unfolding before her, not moving any closer. The Doctor was now at the bottom of the stairs, his left foot resting on the edge of the first step.

'I have worked hard here for centuries, Doctor, trapped inside this body I inhabited on its deathbed,' the Empress was saying. 'My people are hibernating safely on this planet. Our plans for this planet and its people are almost completed, I am not about to leave.'

'Wouldn't it be easier if you came with me? Come on, Empress, think of your people.'

'I _am _thinking of my people!' she snarled, quickly taking two steps up. 'Which is more than your people did when you destroyed our home, killing thousands, leaving the rest of us to flee and make our way across the stars. And what had we done to the Time Lords? _Nothing._'

The Doctor closed his eyes wearily, pressing his weight down on the foot that rested on the step. He heard Donna take a few steps closer, heard her breathing as he listened to his own two hearts beating. He took a deep breath through his nose and opened his eyes.

'You're right, Empress,' he said tiredly, his words losing their usual energy. 'You're right. But, I'm sorry, you _can't _just come and take over any planet you fancy. An eye for an eye will make the whole universe blind. So, either, you let me help you or I'm going to have to do something I'll regret due to your violation of the rights of the citizens on this planet.'

The Empress was now perched at the top, the throne looming behind her.

'I have only improved this planet,' she said. 'These Skraarkans were pathetic and weak and _I _made them better and stronger.' A smile curled around the corners of her ghostly lips. 'And I'm still going to have to destroy them when we, the mighty Priskeet, make this planet our own!'

Suddenly, the Empress had turned and was dashing in the direction of the throne. The Doctor immediately threw himself up the steps, lunging forwards.

'SETTING TWENTY EIGHT, DONNA!' he yelled. 'SETTING TWENTY EIGHT!'

Donna's fingers were trembling as she fumbled with the sonic device, trying to recall how to change the settings.

The Doctor pounced onto the top step, landing on all fours. The Empress was using the Skraarkan Queen's body to push the throne forwards, glass scraping against glass to reveal a cleverly hidden trap door that led through the glass into underground darkness.

'NOW, DONNA, PRESS IT NOW!' he bellowed, reaching out to grab the arm of the body controlled by the Empress.

Shakily, Donna pressed the big blue button and held it, feeling the screwdriver vibrate slightly. Nothing seemed to happen and Donna looked up at the Doctor, thinking she had done something wrong.

But something was happening. Something rather large, with wings like translucent scythes, was emerging from the ears of Queen Ruza's body. It had large bug-like eyes swivelling on the sides of its small head, rather like an enormous dragon fly. The wings flapped up and down, slicing the air, a tangle of fibre-like legs dangling from its pasty green body, intertwined with a narrow green tube that replaced the creature's mouth.

A shrill shriek sounded inside Donna's head as the creature- Empress Mos of the Priskeet- dived down into the trap door. She started to run towards the stairs, using the path cleared by the Empress and the Doctor, small shards of glass flying up at her heels like sharp-edged sparks. She only vaguely realised that the shriek had sounded within her mind rather than out loud for all to hear.

She stopped at the foot of the stairs.

'Doctor?'

He looked down at her, hand resting on the shoulder of the Queen's corpse that the Empress had readily disposed of in her escape.

'What was that?'

'Setting twenty eight, high frequency device,' he explained. 'Interfered with the brain waves she was controlling, she had to leave to escape the agony.'

'But she still escaped.'

'Oh, not quite,' he said confidently, standing up, brushing his hands down on his suit jacket. He stared sadly down at the body of Queen Ruza. If the Empress had been telling the truth, then the real Queen Ruza had been dead before her body was overtaken, but it still wasn't right for anyones body to be used in such a way. He faced Donna, pointing a finger warningly at her.

'Stay there,' he instructed.

'Wha-?'

It was too late, however, for the Doctor had already jumped down into the trap door without another word.

……

A/N: Again, this chapter was originally going to be longer, but I didn't want it to drag out too much, so instead you get another mini cliff hanger. Thanks for those who've reviewed, I love to hear feedback, particularly if it improves my writing in any way.

I'm posting this up about a two hours before Journey's End airs, can't wait!


	9. Parasite

Donna's mind was caught up in the jumble of a mental conflict with herself. She stood idle, hand holding the sonic screwdriver hanging loosely by her side, brown eyes flickering as she flitted between thoughts and choices.

On the one hand, he'd told her to stay there. A simple instruction, easy to follow; in fact, almost gladly followed as it kept her out of the dark trapdoor and away from the ugly, insectoid alien that had just emerged from within someone's head. A head that was probably not bigger on the inside.

On the other hand, Donna thought, beginning to climb the stairs, what right did he have to tell her what to do? Alright, so he may be her designated driver and he did know a lot more about all of this alien business than she did, but she was a grown woman, more than capable of taking care of herself. She blew a piece of her red hair out of her face with an angry puff, footsteps barely making a sound on the glass.

She stood at the top of the stairs, looking pitifully down into the eyes of the deceased Queen Ruza. She carefully lowered onto her knees and closed the heavy eyelids, making the Queen's face look at once more peaceful. Besides, she thought, sometimes he needed someone to help him. And sometimes he needed someone to stop him. In the end, when it came down to it, he needed someone. Even if they were just there, not even holding his hand, but hovering just in the background where he could see them and knew that they were there. Someone to just _be _there for the last of the Time Lords.

Donna continued to gaze down at the dead Queen's face, the frail body drowning under the heavy scarlet robes. Donna couldn't say she knew the Queen, not the real her, but it was easy to pity someone who had their eternal peace interrupted. She reached out her hand, huge purple ring glinting in the sunlight, and gently closed the eyelid of her blind third eye. She had made her decision.

She stood quickly, turning her back on the lifeless body, clutching the sonic screwdriver tighter in her moist palms. She leant back slightly, stretching the tendons of her aching knees. It was stiflingly hot standing under the twin suns but, Donna considered, it was going to be a sight cooler when she jumped down into the darkness of the trapdoor.

She perched on the edge of the trapdoor, the toes of her dusty and battered trainers poking over the edge as if they were curious to see what lay beneath. She was not looking forward to plunging into the black and, as she shuffled anxiously on the edge of the black rectangle, she was whispering a little prayer in the back of her mind, not to anyone in particular, but it felt reassuring to think that somebody might be listening.

'If this goes wrong and I die,' she muttered under her parched breath. 'I am going to _kill _him.'

She took a deep breath, like she would if she were about to dive into an unknowingly deep swimming pool, bent her knees, poised to jump and was just slowly closing her eyes when he appeared from nowhere in front of her. Like he had just shot up out of the trapdoor and was now stood on the opposite side, staring at her, a bewildered look fixed on his face.

'Donna,' he started. 'I told you to stay put. What do you think you're doing?'

He tilted his head to the right, like a curious spaniel, his eyes slightly narrowed.

'Ye-ah…' she breathed. 'Well, rule number one is don't wander off an' what did you do? Wander off!'

He cocked his head further, still staring at her, his arms hanging stiff by his sides. She watched him, jaw dropped open slightly. Her eyes widened expectantly as he continued to stand in silence, examining her as if she greatly puzzled him.

'Wha'?' she said. Nothing; no reply or reaction. She scowled. 'Doctor!'

He suddenly jumped back a bit, blinking out of his reverie. 'Oh. Right. Sorry, lost my train of thought for a moment there…' He stood stiffly before shoving his hands into his trouser pockets.

'Well?' she asked.

'Wha'?' he mimicked her earlier question, head waving minutely from side-to-side.

'What happened down there?'

'Oh, of course, yeah!' he slapped his hand to his creased forehead. 'Right, yeah. I followed the Empress a bit, but she knew I was there and I got lost in all of the tunnels. You wouldn't believe it Donna, there were hundreds of them. Hundreds! I reckon they've been spending all this new money from the weapons trade on developing it, the fancy Palace is just a disguise so it looks like it's being spent somewhere…'

'And?' Donna was confused, it didn't sound like the Doctor to just give up and let the ne'er-do-well escape without reprimand.

'I came back here.'

'How did you get up through that trapdoor?'

'For the sake of your human intelligence, I'm going to call it a mega-bouncy trampoline.'

'Thanks,' she said dryly.

Suddenly, the Doctor jumped back, falling backwards and landing with a painful thud against the side of the throne. His body slumped forwards and Donna immediately leapt to his side, crouched on her knees.

'Doctor?'

'Donna!' he looked up at her, eyes flitting about rapidly. 'Donna, you've got to- GAAH!' he shouted through clenched teeth, grabbing at his head. 'I can't- Donna-,'

'What? What do you want me to do?'

'SCREWDRIVER!'

'What the-? Oh!' she suddenly understood why the Doctor's behaviour had seemed so strange.

'Quickly! I can't-,'

'Hang on, I dunno if it's-,'

He screamed again, louder and more pained. Not sure if the sonic screwdriver was still on the right setting, Donna jammed her thumb down once again on the button and felt herself panic because her she was unable to hear the high frequency.

The Doctor writhed around, struggling as the Empress blossomed out of his ear, making a beeline for Donna, who was too stunned to react or duck out of the way. The Doctor was on his feet, panting heavily, rubbing his temples with the heel of his hand in a frustrated action.

'That's enough, Mos!' he shouted at Donna, where the Empress now hid. 'Empress or not, you don't have the right to keep doing this to people! Get out of her!' he demanded.

'No!' the Empress hissed using Donna's mouth.

'I'm warning you, I know the rest of your people are hidden down there, hibernating. And I'm asking you not to make me do something I'll regret!'

The Empress laughed and Donna's arm holding the sonic screwdriver raised. 'What're you going to do?' she asked. 'I have your sonic screwdriver and your companion… and I see now that she is your friend. Your only friend.'

The Doctor was taken aback by this knowledge and the Empress laughed again.

'I took your earlier advice,' she explained through Donna. 'And I looked at your memories, but you have so many centuries of memories hidden away, deep, deep down… I took a look at what was fresh and… painful.' She grinned.

'You can play that game if you want, but I…' he trailed off, a plan half forming in his brilliant mind. Donna was strong-willed, he only needed her to fight back for just a moment…

'It won't effect you? Doctor, I think you're wrong, don't forget I've been inside your mind, controlled it briefly. I saw and felt what you try to hide… I know that if I were to simply change a few things in the complexities of Donna's human brain she would fail and you would be left alone without your best friend. And I know what happened to your other friends too, Doctor. Martha Jones… She loved you and you couldn't return that love. She hardened, like you, became a fighter and a killer-'

'No!' the Doctor cut her off. 'I know Martha Jones and she's no murderer. She is a _healer_, she helps people, sharing the fight to survive with them.' He edged closer and Donna took a step back towards the stairs. 'And she didn't _love_ me. Alright, maybe she did, but it was a- an infatuation! She's found herself a real, _human _that she can love and who will treat her right. So, next card, Mos, if you insist on playing the game.'

The Doctor steeled himself; he was almost certain what her next angle of distraction would be and he needed to focus.

'I know you know what I'm going to say next,' she started, taking a step down. 'Rose. Rose, Rose, Rose. Rose, who was so readily ripped from your side after she had promised you forever. But what's a promise of forever between a simple human and a centuries old Time Lord?'

It stung, it really did but he had to continue the fight and not let himself fall prey to the Empress's bait.

'You're right, forever is nothing. But, I can promise you that Rose Tyler is living a fantastic life, because that's what she does best- fantastic!'

'Living a fantastic life, or _lived _a fantastic life?' the Empress questioned coldly. 'You'll never know, Time Lord. Rose Tyler could have died on her way home from that beach in Norway, the one that _you _led her to.'

The Doctor was taken aback, the Empress had wheedled out some of his worst thoughts and doubts. But he realized this was his chance to act, so he threw himself at Donna, wrapping his long-fingered hand around Donna's and pressed the sonic screwdriver using her fingers which the Empress had overlooked to control in her moment of surprise.

With an almighty cry, the Empress was forced out of Donna and into the air with nowhere to hide as the Doctor covered his eyes in a ridiculous looking defence, using his body to cover Donna's limp form. The Empress's mossy skin started to crack and dry out, tongues of flame wrapping licking out and wrapping themselves around her spindly body until she was engulfed in a ball of screaming fire.

Donna opened her eyes blearily as the ash fell to the floor.

'Sunlight,' he explained, voice void of any emotion. 'Their bodies can't cope with the heat and… you saw what happened. That's why they live underground, or hide away in people's minds, feeding off brainwave energy and controlling neural functions. Like a parasite. It's quite clever really.'

'It- She was controlling me?'

The Doctor stood up tiredly. 'I chased her in those underground tunnels and let her take over my body, because I knew she'd come back up here… Are you alright?'

'What? Yeah, I'm fine just… Wow, my head is pounding.'

'It'll fade in a bit, she just sapped some of your energy. I expect you'll have some very weird dreams tonight.'

'Ooooh,' she groaned. 'What I wouldn't give to be in my bed right now.'

He smiled slightly, but it slipped off his face as he started blankly at the pile of ash. 'I really didn't want to have to do that,' he murmured. Donna placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

'It's alright,' she consoled. 'What else were you gonna do?'

'I'm sure I could've thought of something.'

'Don't beat yourself up over it, Spaceman, she may be gone but there's still all the rest of her people hiding away down there.'

He brightened slightly. 'And I have a new idea.' He started off down the glass stairs. 'Coming?'

Just then, several members of the Guard burst in, guns out, two of them holding Knet and Leb in their ferocious grasp. Pliam was at the head of the group, racing towards the Doctor and Donna. He skidded t a stop, glass flying, as he saw the crumpled form of Queen Ruza left carelessly lying at the foot of the throne.

'YOU MURDERED OUR QUEEN!'

……

A/N: One or two chapters left to go, but I'm away for a week as of Sunday and not sure whether I'll get the next chapter up before then. Thanks for the reviews. And, oh, Journey's End! No spoilers, but I loved it!


	10. Improvising

The phrase 'deer caught between the headlights' seems a particularly apt description here; what with the Doctor's doe-brown eyes wide and jaw comically dropped after Pliam's latest accusatory bellow

A/N: So, it's been awhile; I got a bit caught up in holidays with friends, holidays with family, exam results… Basically, I've been pretty busy, but hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for those who reviewed last time!

….…..

The phrase 'deer caught between the headlights' seems a particularly apt description here; what with the Doctor's doe-brown eyes wide and jaw comically dropped after Pliam's latest accusatory bellow. Donna may have had time to consider and remark sarcastically upon the Doctor's lost look and generally very human reaction had her own expression not been the mirror image of his.

'Uh… Um… Uh…' the Doctor stumbled over his usually hyperactive tongue. Donna realised that she looked the picture perfect goldfish and clanged her jaw shut, eyes focused helplessly on the crowd of Skraarkan Guards gathered at the opposite end of the hall, their eyes popping and whizzing with shock and confusion. Pliam let out an angered, strangled roar and started to charge like an overweight bull, fumbling to pull his gun out of its holster as he ran.

Suddenly, the Doctor grabbed Donna's arm tightly, back to his usual pretence of being in charge of the situation.

'Quick, run!' he shouted, already darting back towards the stairs, practically dragging Donna behind him. He took the stairs two converse-clad feet at a time, forcing Donna to do the same with some difficulty as her legs were nowhere near as long and lanky as his.

They reached the top of the stairs, the Doctor standing by the open trap door, motioning for Donna to jump down. Donna hesitated; stuck in choosing between plunging into the darkness, or waiting for the raging Guard to catch up to them.

'You were all ready to jump down there earlier!' the Doctor desperately reminded her, gently pulling her over, his eyes looking over her head at the Guard who were just reaching the foot of the stairs.

With a look that clearly read 'Sometimes-I-bleeding-hate-you', Donna stepped over and dropped down into the darkness, the Doctor following swiftly after her.

Eyes tight shut, Donna heard the air rushing past her face, whistling in her ears as it got cooler and damper. She was just about able to feel moisture on her skin when she came to a sudden stop. She squeezed one eye open, seeing that she was suspended about half a metre above ground and the Doctor's feet were coming rapidly towards a collision with the top of her red head. She unwittingly screamed as whatever held her levitating in place suddenly relinquished its hold and she dropped, crumpling to her knees as tiny shockwaves ran up her quivering legs.

'Come on,' the Doctor said restlessly, grabbing Donna's hand and once again pulling her after him, something not much appreciated by his companion. 'I want them to follow us, but there's no way I want to get caught.'

'What are you doing?' Donna demanded.

'Improvising,' he told her shortly, leading her round a bend in the rock tunnel. Donna's eyes were still getting used to the eerie darkness and she stumbled slightly.

'Do you ever have a plan?'

'Only one to look back on when I'm down.'

Their footsteps echoed as they clapped against the damp, rough stone floor. Just as the Doctor led Donna around an other bend, she heard heavy, pounding footsteps coming after them. Muffled shouts bounced off the walls of the labyrinth tunnels, angered and frustrated. The Doctor was walking at a fast pace, but not sprinting ahead like a whippet in his usual fashion.

'I found them!' someone shouted from behind. The footsteps sped up towards the sound of the Skraarkan guard's voice.

'And now they've seen us,' the Doctor informed Donna. '_Now_ we run.'

And they were running. And the Skraarkans were giving chase. Hundreds of footsteps reflected the pounding hearts that raced in the chests of the Skraarkan Guards in furious pursuit of the criminals.

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver over his shoulder, resonating the rock so a few dark clumps exploded out of the uneven surface, the distraction momentarily blocking the path of the Skraarkans. A few of them fought to get past the miniature boulders, scrambling and scrabbling with their three fingers, forcing the rock out of their way.

He continued on and Donna, amongst her mess of speeding thoughts and rush of adrenalin, continued to wonder if he actually had a plan.

Finally, they reached a cave that was lit by the strange green bulbs that the Skraarkans above ground used. Donna squinted in the semi-darkness and saw the forms of hundreds, possibly thousands of Priskeet lining the walls and ceiling of the cave, lying across each other, seemingly asleep or hibernating. A soft buzzing filled the cave, like static background noise.

The Doctor pressed his sonic screwdriver into Donna's hands, his face inches from hers.

'Start resonating the stone above my head, could take a while,' he started in a whisper, his eyes serious. 'Then, when I tell you, setting twenty-eight. Straight after, I want you to aim above my head and continue with setting thirteen.'

'Right, thirteen, twenty-eight, thirteen,' Donna repeated, clutching the screwdriver.

The Skraakan's footsteps were coming closer and closer.

'Those are the ones.'

The echoes of the footsteps were even nearer now, the sound clashing so much it sounded like they were walking across all of the walls.

'Try and hide yourself.'

Donna dashed off in the opposite direction of the way they had entered, hiding behind a piece of wall that jutted out, trying not to rub against any of the sleeping Priskeet. The Doctor stood at the centre of the cave, hands in pockets, waiting for the Skraarkans.

Donna began her task, aiming above the Doctor's head, the buzz of the screwdriver disguised by that of the Priskeet.

Seconds later, they arrived, Pliam fighting his way to the head of the group.

'Where's the other one?' he demanded.

'Gone,' the Doctor replied simply.

'What're these- these insects? Are you controlling them?'

'The Priskeet, planet of origin, Priska. I'm not controlling them, but I know who was.'

Pliam felt that he should be arresting this enigmatic man who stood before him, but he needed information on these creatures that appeared to be living beneath his city. And this Doctor was probably the one person who could help. Around him, his Guard examined the creatures warily.

'Who? Who's controlling them?'

'Was.'

'What?' he snapped angrily.

'_Was_ controlling them. Past tense. She's not controlling them anymore. Bit beyond her ability now.'

'Who?!' Pliam demanded.

'Your Queen.'

Pliam was taken aback. He stumbled over his next sentence after silencing his Guard who fell into uproar at the notion. 'Wha-Why-How?'

'Weeeell, if I'm being more specific, not exactly your Queen. Just one of these Priskeet controlling her corpse.'

'How?'

'Feeding off brainwave energy. They were in her mind, altering the processes of her brain, changing your planet to suit themselves. You wouldn't have a job if it weren't for these creatures.' The Doctor gestured around at the assembled Guard before him, who were all stunned and confused.

'Didn't you ever wonder why Ruza lived so long? Especially after coming so close to death? And why all of these weapons factories suddenly pooped out of nowhere- much like the Palace itself?'

Pliam narrowed his eyes shrewdly.

'Prove it,' he ordered.

The Doctor sighed, frustrated. 'Knew this was going to happen…' he muttered.

He strolled casually over to the nearest Priskeet, steeling himself for the pain this next part of his improvised plan would cause. He bent down close to its sleeping head and whispered; 'I killed the Empress.'

The effect was instant. The Priskeet's and others around its eyes snapped open, their buzzing turning hostile. The group of the Guard gathered closer together, gripping their small stun guns closely.

The Priskeet unfurled themselves and zoomed straight towards the Doctor, entering his mind again.

The Doctor collapsed to the floor in pain as the Priskeet found the fresh memory that confirmed that he had had a hand in the death of the Empress. It delved around his huge mind, intentionally causing pain.

The Doctor's body shuddered as Donna continued to watch, waiting for some sort of signal, not knowing if one was going to come at all.

Chaos erupted around them as more Priskeet awoke and the Skraarkans instantly turned to fight them off. Pliam was bellowing, commanding the Doctor to make it stop, but the Doctor only managed to get one word out.

'NOW!' he shouted through clenched teeth, before letting out a pained cry as his body juddered.

Donna fumbled with the screwdriver, changed the setting to twenty-eight and jamming the button down hard. Once again the screwdriver emitted the high frequency that Donna couldn't hear, forcing the Priskeet out of the Doctor's head.

He leapt up, panting and out of breath as the Priskeet around them all writhed in the air, legs twitching.

'Thirteen again Donna!' he said.

It only took a few seconds. Donna aimed the screwdriver roughly where she had previously and soon, the rock started to shake violently before pieces started to fall.

The Doctor and the Guard dived out of the way of falling debris as sunlight fell into the cave, causing them all to shy away from the sudden brightness, shielding their eyes with their hands.

Donna dodged the Priskeet as they all raced away from the light as their pasty skins started to crack. She raced over to the Doctor, who grabbed her in a quick, crushing hug.

'Done improvising?' she asked over the noise of the Skraarkans giving chase to the Priskeet who were escaping the light down more dark tunnels.

'Almost.'

He marched over to Pliam who had lost all control.

'Order your men not to hurt a single Priskeet, it's not their fault they had to hide here and they aren't responsible for what their Empress did.'

'But the Queen-,'

'Not a casualty, understood?'

Pliam nodded meekly.

'You need to negotiate. There's no reason why they can't continue to exist underground here. It could be a positive for both the Skraarkans and the Priskeet.'

'But-,'

'I'll stay to make sure that my instruction is followed, but then I'm leaving.'

The Doctor started to walk back to a drained looking Donna.

'And when we leave, there's no way I'm coming back,' Donna told him.

The Doctor grinned. 'That'd probably be a good idea.'

….….

A/N: There it is then, almost done. Brief epilogue coming up to answer any questions (And if you do have any, just ask and I'll try and answer them, might have missed a few loose ends).


	11. Epilogue

**Discalimer: **Still not mine.

A/N: And the final, brief chapter. An epilogue, if you will. Hope it settles everything. Thanks to Gamine Madcap for the review of the previous chapter.

……

Even the Doctor (grudgingly) admitted that his latest bout of improvising in an attempt to save a planet hadn't involved any of his greatest ideas. In fact, he'd made a bit of a mess. Luckily, it worked out for him in the end.

The Skraarkan guards had abandoned the underground cavern of the Priskeet as ordered by Pliam, as it was the only way nobody was going to get hurt. Only Pliam and the Doctor (the latter having sent Donna back to the TARDIS for so much needed sleep) remained, waiting to seek counsel with a representative of the Priskeet. They were later joined by Knet, who had just been chosen as the next king of Skraark.

It turned out, as Knet explained to the Doctor, that Knet was actually Queen Ruza's great-great grandson and held the strongest claim to the throne, his other rivals having already died. His policy of a return to the Skraark of old, without violence and only peace went down well with the people. He told the Doctor he would leave the shattered Palace and the bombed prison as a reminder of hard times, leaving them to fall slowly to ruin. The weapons factories would continue business, but in the trade medical machinery and ambulance ships for warring planets, so the Skraarkans continued to profit but were helping in some way. Knet had not officially been crowned and was keen to keep it that way for a long time. He was only taking on the title to help fix Skraark, as he felt was his true purpose in life.

Eventually, some of the Priskeet returned, prepared to flee again at the sight of the Doctor and his two Skraarkan companions. Knet had stepped forward to speak, laving the Doctor to stand in his shadow and watch, only intervening where he felt necessary.

An agreement was reached. The Priskeet were allowed to remain under the surface of Skraark and build their colonies there, as long as they did nothing to harm the generous Skraarkans, who would never think of hurting them. The Doctor thought it was a bit of a flimsy agreement, but he knew that it would work out because the sun didn't set long enough on Skraark for the Priskeet to risk coming above land (and he'd cobbled together a high frequency emitting device to be placed in the town centre to reveal any cheating Priskeet).

Despite the mess, the situation had worked out quite well in the Doctor's eyes. He didn't usually stick around for the resolution of any destruction he may have helped or hindered, but he was glad that he had overseen the joining of two great races and an agreement that would last for as long as either species lived.

He was grinning to himself as he strolled back to the TARDIS. He brushed a colourful swathe of fabric that was hanging ready for the coronation ceremony aside and ducked beneath a row of dangling red banners. There, standing proudly at the end of the alley, exactly where he had left it (sort of) was the TARDIS. No matter what sort of a day he had had, the Doctor's last reminder of his people was always a welcome sight. He strolled down the alley and stepped inside, the door making its familiar creaking sound.

Donna was sat casually on the flight seat, her legs stretched out and resting on the edge of the console unit, nonchalantly flicking through a glossy magazine. She looked up as the Doctor entered.

'You're looking pretty chirpy,' she commented. 'What happened? Did they reward you with bananas or somethin'?'

'No, no,' he told her, taking long strides up the rattling grating, hands in his pinstriped pockets. 'It just… It worked out. And that hardly ever happens. Not for me.'

He leaned against the console, smiling broadly. Donna swung her legs off the console and perched on the edge of the seat, palms resting on the cushions by her side.

'Where to then, spaceman?'

The Doctor blew air out of his lips like a horse and looked up thoughtfully, folding his arms across his chest.

'Hmmm… I dunno. The beach maybe? Yeah, the beaches of Tir-falls! Fantastic they are, the sand is actually made up of thousands of millions of flakes of gold. Actual pure gold! But it's still so soft. It's manmade- well, Tir-fallin made, but still amazing… Interested?'

He turned his head to the side to look at the wide-eyed Donna.

'Oh, definitely!' she breathed, sliding off the seat (a little ungracefully). 'Lemme just go and get some stuff- Sunglasses, yeah, definitely gonna bring those this time!'

The Doctor watched her excitedly dash off to gather armfuls of things that she probably wouldn't use. He stood up, abandoning his leaning stance to set the co-ordinates for Tir-fall.

He was just finalising the settings when he felt his left breast pocket suddenly grow warm. Feeling his eyebrows meet at the middle, he rooted around in the pocket for the source of his warmth and found the leather wallet that contained his psychic paper.

A little confused, he flipped the warm material open and watched as a neatly-written message sprawled its way across the psychic paper.

'_The Library- come as soon as you can.'_

It was signed off with an x- a kiss.

The Doctor stared at the message for a few seconds, feeling the pad grow cold again. He contemplated the message before him, ultimately deciding, in his usual curious nature, that he would, of course go to the Library. And why not now?

He flipped the wallet closed and stuffed it back inside his pocket, before starting to change the co-ordinates for the biggest library in the Universe. He paused and looked over his shoulder as the green central column started to pulse and whir.

'Donna!' he called. 'I've got something to show you!'

……

A/N: And so, it is done. Just thought I'd wrap it up there with a nice tie-in to the fantastic Steven Moffat two-parter. Hope you all enjoyed!


End file.
